USA authorizes industrial-scale technology for uranium extraction from seawater

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has granted a license to the Austin-based company SuperCritical Materials to commercially utilize technology for extracting uranium from seawater. This innovative method was developed at the department's national laboratories and will now be implemented on an industrial scale. This step is of strategic importance at a time when the demand for nuclear fuel in the global energy market is increasing. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .

This technology was created by experts at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). It is based on collecting uranium dissolved in seawater using special adsorbent materials. SuperCritical Materials has secured the right to deploy this system not only within the USA but also in allied countries in the future.

Infinite reserves in the ocean

According to company estimates, there are approximately 4.5 billion tons of dissolved uranium in the world's oceans. This is several times more than all known land-based reserves. Until now, uranium extraction from seawater had been proven in laboratory conditions, but high costs and difficulties in scaling to an industrial level had hindered its widespread adoption.

According to ixbt.com, the activation of this project is linked to an increase in investment in nuclear energy in the USA. The development of AI technologies, the growth of large data centers, and energy-intensive manufacturing capacities have sharply increased the demand for electricity.

Strategic independence and new opportunities

Currently, the nuclear energy sector is facing the task of not only building new reactors but also expanding the entire supply chain, from fuel extraction to enrichment. SuperCritical Materials plans to make the technology economically viable by leveraging advancements in adsorbent chemistry and materials science.

Company representatives emphasize that this approach is not limited to uranium. This method can also be used to extract other important and rare materials from seawater. This will reduce the USA's dependence on imports for strategic resources and strengthen the domestic supply chain.

However, to transition from laboratory testing to full-scale industrial production, the company must bring the product's cost to a competitive level. Furthermore, the long-term efficiency of the technology under large-scale conditions must be verified in practice. If these goals are achieved, a new era in the energy world could begin.